A semiconductor processing apparatus includes a single-substrate processing apparatus. In the single-substrate processing apparatus, a FOUP (Front-Opening Unified Pod) is mounted on a mounting table and a multiple number of processing modules perform sequential processes or parallel processes on a substrate taken out of the FOUP. As one of this kind of substrate processing apparatuses, there is a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate. The substrate cleaning apparatus includes a mounting table configured to mount thereon a multiple number of FOUPs; a cleaning module configured to perform a cleaning process on a target surface of a rotating substrate by supplying a cleaning liquid and a scrub cleaning process on the target surface by touching a scrubber, such as a brush; and a transfer system configured to transfer the substrate between a processing module and the FOUP.
If a process is performed on the substrate, a transfer schedule of the substrate is created based on an assigned sequence of a process recipe set for the substrate (hereinafter, a process recipe to be executed based on a setting for the substrate will be referred to as “process job (PJ)”) and a control job (CJ), as a group unit of PJs, set for a FOUP. The substrate is unloaded from the FOUP based on the transfer schedule and transferred to a preset processing module. Then, the processed substrate is returned to the FOUP.
Before an actual operation (a process on a product substrate) of the substrate cleaning apparatus is first started or when a maintenance process is performed, there is a request for a trial operation (also called “aging”) in order to actually transfer the substrate or process the substrate within the processing module and check an operation of the substrate cleaning apparatus.
In this regard, by way of example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique of operating a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus is connected to a multiple number of process modules (PM) for performing a plasma process such as a dry etching process around a transfer module configured to transfer a substrate in a vacuum state. According to Patent Document 1, during an actual operation, if a CJ first activated in a preset PM does not contain a PJ executable in the PM, a PJ executable in the PM and belonging to another CJ is first allowed to be executed. Thus, whenever a PJ is executed, a great change of an atmosphere within the PM can be prevented. However, Patent Document 1 does not describe a method of efficiently performing a trial operation in conditions close to those of an actual operation.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2011-009342